


that which lingers

by darkmagiattack



Series: YGO Collab Love Drabbles [6]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Drabble, Established Relationship, M/M, Post-Canon, Putting the angst in angstshipping, but its more hurt/comfort cuz im soft for these two, implied past thiefship and tendership, set loosely in mangaverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:47:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25740808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkmagiattack/pseuds/darkmagiattack
Summary: set some years after canon, marik and ryou reflect on someone dearYGO Collab Love Spirit Gate #5. Prompt: mark
Relationships: Bakura Ryou/Marik Ishtar
Series: YGO Collab Love Drabbles [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1797124
Comments: 8
Kudos: 10
Collections: Spirit Gate Round 12





	that which lingers

Hesitantly, thin, tanned fingers smoothed along the edges of an old scar, the one that rested on Ryou’s chest like a second heart. Following the curve of the phantom Ring, they wandered to the raised bumps where the smaller pendants had hung, where the deeper wounds had been. There the hand paused, warm against his cool skin.

Ryou cracked his eyes open, easily locating the culprit, Marik, leaning over him, his sandy hair hanging about his face in a curtain. How long had he been awake? The man’s pale eyes seemed to be searching Ryou’s face for something, but Ryou was far too groggy to have an idea what. 

Raising a hand, Ryou brushed a couple locks from Marik’s face, cupping the angular slant of his jaw. Marik’s pensive expression split into a smile, before he let himself fall back onto the mattress, resting the side of his face on Ryou’s stomach. 

“Did it hurt?” Marik asked after another minute of silence, continuing to idly trace the faded mark that the Millennium Ring had left, all those years ago. They hadn’t spoken of those days for some time, so Ryou wondered what he was really getting at.

Ryou closed his eyes. “Of course it did.”

He wasn’t lying. Sometimes he still woke abruptly in the middle of the night, clutching blindly at the elusive burning feeling in his chest. Whether it was from the physical sensation, or the wave of feelings it brought with it, he’d never be sure, but… 

“Do you look for him in me, sometimes?” Ryou couldn’t help himself from asking, his tone painstakingly even. He couldn’t bring himself to say the name that the spirit had stolen from him; a gift he’d once been happy to give. 

Marik sat upright, panic flooding his features. “No—I mean, perhaps at first, when I first met you, but I'd never—"

Sitting up as well, Ryou silenced him with a light, chaste kiss at the corner of his mouth. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that," he apologized, lacing his fingers with Marik's. He was quiet for a moment, rubbing his thumb over Marik’s knuckles.

"I miss him, sometimes, in my own way," Ryou admitted, voice soft. "Even now, my feelings are confusing. But, really, these days I’ve had with you have been my happiest, so, I'm sure he's happy, somewhere, too."

"You really think so?" 

"I do."


End file.
